Featured Articles from the Huntington Beach Independent

A man died of a gunshot wound Aug. 2 at an indoor shooting range in Huntington Beach, in what police are calling an apparent suicide. The Huntington Beach Police Department responded to the shooting at 12:16 p.m. at the Firing-Line Indoor Shooting Range, 17921 Jamestown Lane, said Lt. Chad Nichols. The shooting occurred while the gun range was crowded, said Lt. Mitch O'Brien. He would not say whether the victim used his own gun or a gun from the range. A man who answered the phone at the range declined to comment.

The Get Skillz Football Camp for youth grades K through eighth is Sunday at Edison High. The camp is run by Edison senior Elijah Herrera (All-Sunset League, All-CIF) and other Charger players from the school's 2012 CIF Southern Section Southwest Division championship football team and will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. at the school's front field. Agility, seven-on-seven and one-on-one drills, and a punt, pass and kick competition, will be offered. A $15 donation per camper is requested with all proceeds benefiting the David Bolda Football Scholarship Memorial Fund.

It's Bell Game week, and nothing more needs to be said to the Edison and Fountain Valley high football teams. Nothing seems to rev up the passions of both squads, their respective schools and communities, more than this game. It will be played for the 43rd time at 7 p.m. Friday at Orange Coast College before what figures to be yet another full house at LeBard Stadium. "It's the one game students from both schools go to," Edison Coach Dave White said. "People paint themselves, have a lot of spirit, and it's a game where records don't matter.

It's comforting to think of "Oklahoma!" not as the scene of devastating tornadoes, but as a landmark musical comedy that retains a good share of its spunk and spirit on this, its 70th anniversary. True, the corn still may be high as an elephant's eye (it was, after all, inspired by a dusty and unsuccessful melodrama called "Green Grow the Lilacs"), but what Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrought from it in their first collaboration was legendary, and these qualities are on full view in an excellent revival at the Newport Theatre Arts Center.

A proposal to decide whether Huntington Beach voters should make so-called "safe and sane" fireworks legal beyond a two-year test run failed this week. The City Council did not get enough votes for a ballot measure that would let voters decide whether the sale and discharge of fireworks should be included in the city charter. Such a charter protection would prohibit future city councils from outlawing sparklers, fountains and other small fireworks allowed by the state. Authority of whether residents can continue to sell and set off legal fireworks — as they did for the first time in 25 years this month — will remain with the council for the duration of the two-year trial period.

Administrators at Ocean View High School plan to rent their Olympic-sized swimming pool to more groups after some in the community complained that the school had shown favoritism by supporting a club for which its aquatics director serves as a coach. _____________________ FOR THE RECORD: The March 8 story “More groups to get access to school pool” should have stated that the Olympic-sized swimming pool at Ocean View High School was funded through Certificates of Participation, a debt-instrument program used by school districts to finance facilities improvements.

On the chili cook-off circuit, Craig Brown's family goes by the team name LBL Shenanigans — an allusion to the jokes played on one another and the initials of the maiden and paternal names of his family. Their chili, however, is serious business. Brown, 43, and his family are looking to take their prize-winning chili to the sixth annual Surf City Chili at the Beach competition in hopes of walking away with $500 and a plaque. About 20 teams will be vying for first place during Saturday's chili cook-off in downtown Huntington Beach, according to Huntington Beach Business Improvement District manager Susan Welfringer.

'Tis the season for barbecues. With Father's Day and Fourth of July on our doorstep, thoughts turn to the thrill of the grill. Barbecuing may be America's oldest competitive outdoor sport. The battles are endless. Since that first day when lightning struck a woolly mammoth and men in animal mini-skirts grunted their appreciation of the superior taste of the meat, to the dry-rubbed, pecan-smoked, indirectly heated pork butt, cooked by the all-American male dressed demurely in a printed apron, stylish hat and long gloves, men have debated the nature of "true" barbecue.

Mike Sciacca Supernatural forces and spirits of the dead are certain to stumble around Downtown today and into the night as children and the not-so-young dress the part in celebration of Halloween. Most Halloween festivities, based on folk legend, tell of supernatural beings from the dark side: ghosts, witches, vampires and werewolves. All figure to be on the prowl tonight, some seeking candy, others simply trying to put up a fright. But every day, toward the east end of Main Street, where ghouls and goblins figure to roam sidewalks freely, a different kind of supernatural force can be found.

If the notion of a vegan meal makes you cringe, a dinner at Mai Nguyen's Au Lac might very well change your mind, especially if you are a fan of Vietnamese, Chinese or Japanese food. Co-chef Ito actually calls his cuisine "Humanese" because he wishes to break down boundaries between people — "we are all merely and wonderfully human. " We think their delicious food will make it an easy transition for carnivores to enjoy a vegan meal. Ito is at the helm of the separate raw food kitchen for those already converted to a plant-based diet who want to take it to the next step.

French 75 is becoming seriously French again. It was on its way when Dave Shofner became the chef but now with the collaboration of master chef Pascal Olhats, it has arrived, along with a recession-busting $10 entrée menu called "The Perfect 10. " We've never seen the place so busy on a weeknight. Is it the $10 menu or has everyone had his fill of fusion and fallen back in love with French cuisine? The terrace was closed in the very chilly weather, but the ambiance inside was warm, welcoming and bustling with conviviality.

If she couldn't do anything to stop excessive teenage drinking, Micayla Vermeeren wanted to do something to prevent anyone else from getting hurt or dying in a related car accent . And in some cases, from dying. Spurred by the death of Kelly Morehouse, who died in a traffic incident involving an alleged drunk driver, the 18-year-old senior from Huntington Beach High School took it upon herself to start a free designated-driving service on Facebook called HB On Call. "I'm not trying to condone any of the behavior that's going on - underage drinking, drug usage, any of that stuff," she said.

Think of it as "The little library that could. " That is, thanks to the help of some very dedicated people. If you haven't heard, the National Park Service recently listed the Huntington Beach Public Library on Triangle Park on the National Register of Historic Places. And that is a very big deal. A group called the Huntington Beach Neighbors (HBN), which includes more than 2,200 local residents, sponsored the nomination, and they should be very proud. As HBN's new president, Richard Plummer, explained to me, "HB Neighbors worked for three years to nominate and list the library building and Triangle Park as a National Register property.

Downtown Huntington Beach business owners are expressing mixed emotions about the recommendations the chief of police has made to curb alcohol-related incidents. A few believe Chief Ken Small is on the right path to stopping the riffraff in the area while others have concerns about a few of his suggestions. Small discussed his approach during a study session Monday. He wants a new downtown business ordinance that would ban new bar and restaurant patrons during the last half hour of business, require "last call" be made no later than 15 minutes before closing and suggest businesses install and maintain surveillance cameras.